Rainwater Harvesting Question

[AZCoyote]

Monsoon season should be starting here in southern Arizona next weekend, and after an expected high temp of 114-116 this week, we are mightily looking forward to it.

I've been using some graywater on the veggies I'm trying to grow--some are doing ok since I gave 'em some shade, others bit the dust...literally. But I also give 'em fresh to mitigate the soaps. Now that the rainy season is coming, I would like to collect and use some of the water coming off my roof.

I've read about some of the collection systems which say that the first 5 gallons should not be used because of the dirt and bird droppings on the roof. Sounds sensible. Unfortunately, the systems they sell which deal with that, are out of my price range. Plus my house has no gutters. No houses down here do, just like nobody has a basement either. I suppose there are good reasons for that, I just haven't figured out what they are.

What I DO have are 2 55 gallon steel drums, with lids, that I scrounged from work. As far as I know, they only had paper to be shredded in them, but it's very possible they had other things in there previously that might leave a nasty residue.

My question is: Is there something I could spray on the inside which would block anything funky but not react in the heat and add its own chemical crap to the water?

My plan for this year, is to just place one under the eaves. If I am home when it storms, I'll go out and take off the lid after a bit to alleviate the bird-crap-on-the-roof problem. If I'm not home when it storms, oh well. I would, of course, have to treat remaining water with bleach or a larvacide to keep mosquitoes from breeding. How bad would these be for my plants?

Everything I've read says not to use rainwater for drinking water, but if it REALLY hits the fan, I may have to.

Any imput is appreciated.

Thanks,
Coyote

[Shamrock1121]

We have a rain collection system around our house that has close to 1,000 gallon capacity that we put in place this spring (we'll be adding more next spring with stage #2). It's a combination of plastic food-grade barrels we purchased from our local farm supply store and plastic tanks they use for liquids from the bed of trucks, etc..

The 50-gallon barrels are recycled (red in color) with spigots on them (which saves the hassle of purchasing and installing it). They smell like olives or pickles inside. We cleaned them with a solution of baking soda and water, and a huge brush and an old broom. We linked 2 barrels together for larger capacity at four downspouts.

Check out this site for barrels. The first red one on the line-up is what we purchased for $30 from the farm supply store. http://rainbarrelguide.com/ If you Google - rain barrels - you'll find a lot of ways to install and use them.

We also have a large 210-gallon tank (also purchsed from the farm supply store - see picture http://orschelnfarmhome.com/portals/0/Flyers/626page7.pdf). We spray painted it to look like a giant lady bug. We installed a spigot in the bung hole in the bottom using a plastic spigot and a couple PVC couplings from the plumbing department at the hardware store - make sure you wrap the threads of everything with teflon plumbing tape to keep them from leaking.

On the north side of our house, which has the longest run of gutter, we have two 165-gallon tanks linked together at one end (and will put more next year $$$). These are taller (66-inches) than a 55-gallon barrel. Once again, we installed the spigot in the bung hole using PVC couplings.

After a lot of study on the subject, the trick to our rain barrel success is the downspout diverter attached to each down spout. But since you don't have gutters, this won't help you, but I'll explain them anyway. I got them from Gardener's Supply Company (www.gardeners.com - item #33-991 for $24.95 each). With these types of diverters, all the barrels remain closed, which keeps the mosquitoes and debris from getting in, and also keeps the water from evaporating. Open barrel collection systems will have a lot of evaporation.

Once the barrels are full, the water is automatically diverted back down the downspout - no over-flow hose necessary in the barrels. There is a hose that goes from the diverter to the barrel where the water enters the barrel. (Note: apply a coat of dishwashing liquid to the hose so that it easily slips into the hole you have to drill in your water barrel.)

You need to place your barrels on top of something, like concrete blocks, so that you have gravity feed. The higher they are (the faster they will flow). We water the grass with a soaker hose, and it's enough pressure to accomplish the task.

We put down 30-inch square fiberglass pads (they use them around here for putting air conditioner units on - they used to use a concrete pad) - leveled them, then we put a coarse of concrete blocks and the barrels on top the blocks. The barrels are all high enough off the ground to get buckets and watering cans under the spigots. We also secured the tall 165-gallon barrels to the house with straping to keep the wind (or a person) from moving them when they are low on water, or empty.

You're going to have to devise something to collect and run water off your roof. It could be done with a tarp that funnels at the end - as just one idea. Although your neighbors may think you're pretty strange....

To keep the barrels from getting "funky" inside, you must continually use the water, and clean them when they do get funky. It's not for long-term storage. Our "lady bug" tank was the first one we put in place (late March). We've had nothing but rain since it's installation and it sat full for most of the spring with little being used out of it. A couple weeks ago the water started to look green, so I drained it with a soaker hose onto the lawn, and gave it a good scrubbing with baking soda/water.

So far we've been able to water all the plants and the small 6'x22' garden with collected water, as well as part of the grass (we're eliminating more grass in stage #2). It's a new yard, and as we establish the landscape we will install drip irrigation systems in each area. The drip irrigation systems will be fed from a portable tank that is filled from the water barrels. I have solar pumps that take the water from the tank of water to the drip irrigation. I got the solar pumps from the same place I got the diverters. It was a terrible spring for doing anything in the yard (snow in April, 2 floods in 2 weeks in May), so some of this is going to wait until fall to be installed.

-Karen

[hunter63]

Try to get barrels that are colored as water will turn green from the sun and algae growth.
The white plastic can be painted with Vynil Paint, used to paint plastic lawn furniture.
This will help.

What prevents you from installing gutters?
You don't need much roof to gather water.

Here is a pic of mine, with a "first flush" ( made from PVC) that allows the first amount of water to get dirverted, then fills the barrels.
Water was/is used to take showers, and is pumped/filtered from the painted blue barrel to the covered barrel.

Second barrel has a sprayer pump running to a 2-1/2 gal water heater.
If just using for watering the plants, you wouldn't need to filter it.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y139/hunter63/PICT0082.jpg

[12vman]

This is how I've been doing it for years.. ;)

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/7906/20030228spring00149io.jpg

I let it set for a day or so and then pump it inside to collection barrels. I store around 400 gal. in my living area. I just add a small amount of bleach to each barrel to keep the slimeys down..
~Don

[Txanne]

No basements?
We dont have them in East Tx either---we'd call them swimming pools if we did. ;D

What about an inground cistern/catchment?
Build a water shed--mine was a tin shed/lean-to with gutters run from it into the cistern.

The barrels are a good idea--also consider a cattle watering-trough--there are big concrete ones.

And just because noone else has gutters---doesnt mean you cant have them---gutters are the unsung heros of the homesteader.

annie

[bookwormom]

we got the biggest model septic tank as a cistern in the ground, above ground I made a box out of roughcut lumber (2 by 8) with notches so it stacks up like lincoln logs with no cracks in between. I t needs to be lined with plastic and it needs a lid, It is eight by six by five. We put sand i n the bottom so the plastic will not tear. I have not figured how many gallons that will hold. It cost me 80 bucks. the fiberglass or plastic one of similar size costs close to 600 dollars. We used treated lumber for the first course and rough cut after that. we are planning to make another one. got the stuff ordered. a few years ago I read where someone had made a water tank like that and it worked really well. I believe it was in Countryside mag.

[bookwormom]

heaven knows how the cool guy smily got in there, it is supposed to be an 8.

[torenghout]

you could line you barrels with contractor garbage bags, they are designed to fit 55 drums